Norman lay on the hard, cold ground of his prison cell, his body beaten and bruised from the guards' punishment.
He has woken up to a pounding headache and a body that felt like it had been through a meat grinder. Those bastards really didn't pull any punches, he thought bitterly.
As he lay there, he couldn't help but feel bitter about the unfairness of it all.
All the other main characters in the stories he had read had cheat systems like peerless bloodlines, immortal constitutions, or powerful systems. But he had none of that.
He was just a regular guy who happened to piss off the wrong people.
Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he suddenly felt a strange energy coursing through his body. It was like nothing he had ever felt before - a mixture of electricity and warmth that seemed to be emanating from deep within him.
At first, he was scared. He thought that maybe he was having some sort of medical emergency. But then he heard a voice in his head, clear as day.
Ding dong.
[System awakening 10%, 20%, 30%....100%]
[Ding! Nightfall protocol system initialization]
[Does host want to bind the system?]
[Yes or No?]
Norman abruptly woke up from his sleep, drawing the attention of the other prisoners. But he ignored them and focused on the system interface, unable to help but say his catchphrase.
"Interesting."
The slaves who were staring at him were weirded out by his behavior, as he looked at the wall with intense focus. Norman stared at the screen for hours before finally clicking on one of the two options.
[System: Are you sure?]
Yes.
[Since you have chosen the option "No," the system will be detached from you.]
[System deactivating 10%, 20%, 30%...100%]
After clicking on "No," Norman turned to the guards and said, "I'm showing mercy to you guys. You better be grateful, otherwise you and your boss would be doomed."
The guard who had mocked him the day before couldn't help but threaten him, "Do you want another beating, you crazy bastard?"
"Hahaha!" Norman couldn't help but laugh. "You have a cute voice, Mrs. Guard."
The slaves who heard him almost laughed, but the mocked guard was livid. He couldn't help but glare at Norman, wanting to eat him alive.
"Oops, sorry, sorry," Norman apologized. "I won't make fun of you anymore. I'm going to sleep."
The next day, Norman was eating at the canteen with the other slaves when a tall girl with brown hair approached him. She was the second person in his cell who didn't look like a dead person.
"What do you want asked Norman while eating tasteless food."
"I'm Aria," she introduced herself and get straight to the point. "I wanted to ask why you purposely acted crazy yesterday."
"What do you mean?" Norman asked. "Isn't it clear? Because I'm crazy."
"I can tell that you were trying to gauge what the bottom line of Fatty is, and I'm sure Fatty knew about this," Aria said, giving Norman a curious look.
Norman stopped eating and looked at her. "So what? Did you already fall in love with me? Girl, you better not fall too hard. I'm nothing but a legend."
Aria couldn't help but feel speechless at his narcissistic attitude. But she had experienced many things in the underworld and quickly recovered her composure. "No, how about becoming friends?" she asked, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Norman stood up from his seat and looked into Aria's dark black eyes, which contained a strange kind of charm that attracted others. He looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "No, I don't make friends," and turned to leave.
Aria was disappointed, but before she could say anything, Norman interrupted her. "But I won't mind having a cooperative relationship."
Aria's face lit up. "That's great! I have some connections in this place, and we can work together to escape."
Norman grinned. "Finally, someone with some brains. I'm in."